Yankees stumbling at the plate

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The speed with which the Yankees disposed of the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series -- a three-game sweep in which New York outscored the Central Division champions 15-6 -- has masked what appear to be serious problems with the Yankee offense.

Five starters are hitting .167 or below in the playoffs, including MVP candidate Mark Teixeira. The league leader in homers and RBIs during the regular season, Teixeira had just two hits in three games against Minnesota, although one was a homer and he scored three runs.

Manager Joe Giraradi was asked Thursday if the four-day break between the end of the Division Series and tonight’s ALCS opener would help or hurt his slumping sluggers and he said he wasn’t sure.

‘We’re not really going to go until we go out there,’ he said. ‘Some guys it helps. Some guys it may hurt. But I thought our guys got good work in the last couple of days. So I feel good about where they’re at.’

One of those players was left fielder Johnny Damon, who batted .083 in the sweep of the Twins, striking out four times in Game 3. He came in for extra work on Monday.

‘We won the series and a few of us reaaly didn’t contribute too much,’ Damon said. ‘For us to continue to be successful we need to continue to pitch like we did. But also we need to get my bat going as well as a couple of other guys.’

-- Kevin Baxter

Photo: Mark Teixeira walks onto the field yesterday. Photo credit: Jared Wickerham / Getty Images.